Broken Promise
by oXShadexXo
Summary: A romantic tale with lots of action.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Tragedy**

As February ended, countless flowers blossomed and the essence of spring could be felt everywhere. The stone paved road in Mushroom Park intersected oddly with the Main Street of Henesys. On the top-left quadrant of the intersection, a statue of a beautiful woman stood elegantly in front of a mansion. This mansion belonged to Chief Stan. It was built recently as a memorial for his wife, but also as a welcome-back gift for his runaway son.

The front doors of the mansion burst open and a boy stormed out in a hurry, approximately sixteen years of age. A red quiver full of arrows was strapped onto his back, and he carried a war bow in his hand. The black baseball hat on his head was worn tilted to the front that his eyes were completely hidden. He was Chief Stan's only son, Alex. He came to a stop in front of the statue, took off his baseball cap and took a long gaze at the it.

"I'm goin' to hunt again mum. Wish me luck," he whispered.

With that Alex took off again. He ran down Main Street into Henesys Hunting Ground.

"Something's near, I can feel it," Alex looked around, attempting to find something.

As he expected, two slimes jumped in front of him, Alex shot an arrow with precision and killed one of the slimes, but when he turned around, the other one was nowhere to be seen. After two long hours of hunting, Alex was annoyed; he wasn't able to find any mushrooms, (Mushrooms were the only challenging monsters in Henesys Hunting Ground) and it was nearly noon. Exhausted and hungry from hunting, Alex began to make way to the nearest cafe. This cafe was usually full of people, but today it was completely empty. The waitress stood inside, facing away from the door. She wore casual clothes; her hair was tied together with a green ribbon, and an amethyst earring dangled down her left ear. She didn't turn to greet Alex when he entered, which puzzled Alex a bit, but he paid no particular attention. He found a seat and sat down. Moments later coughing came from inside the kitchen, and an old man staggered out.

"What would you like, sir?" the old man asked as he handed Alex the menu.

"Where's Ken? The last guy that owned this place," asked Alex inquiringly.

"Oh, a few days ago, Ken sold me this place for a cheap price," said the old man, "only 30,000 mesos, awesome deal!"

Alex chuckled with the least bit of interest.

"Jennifer, bring this lad some tea," said the old man.

The waitress turned around and filled up Alex's cup, then walked away with her eyes on the ground, refusing to look at Alex. Alex took off his cap and glanced at the waitress.

"Wow, what a nice body, but her face is not so attractive, kind of emotionless," he thought, "From her awkward movements, I can tell she's new here."

"So, what will you have?" asked the old man, distracting Alex from his thoughts. Alex turned to look at the menu, then faced the old man again.

"Get me a bowl of salad, and a Hot Dog Supreme, whatever it is.."

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from the outside, and the sound drew nearer as two guys paced inside the cafe. They stared at Alex for a second, then impolitely, sat down on the table beside him. Alex studied the two of them with irritation. Both of them wore samurai suits and carried katanas. The one sitting on the left was in his twenties, and the one on the right was at least thirty.

"Yo, girl, come here!" demanded the older guy rudely.

Jennifer walked near them with her eyes still on the ground.

"What can I get you, sir?" asked Jennifer quietly.

Her voice could barely be heard, however, it was soft and surprisingly pleasant to the ears. The younger man was slightly stunned. All of a sudden, he put out his hand and lifted Jennifer's face.

"What a disappointment.." muttered the younger guy, shaking his head.

Shocked by this wild act, Jennifer backed away from the man.

"Agreed, her body's crazy hot, but her face is such a turn off, eh Mathew?" laughed the older man in amusement.

Alex was aggravated at this sudden act. He slammed his tea cup on the table.

"What the heck do you think you're doin'?" shouted Alex angrily.

"Who's this? Some sissy boy trying to pick a fight with us?" Teased Mathew in laughter.

Alex had good looks like his mother; however, he was always bothered by the fact that he looked somewhat feminine. Not knowing that, Mathew had mocked where Alex was most sensitive. Alex lost his temper; he grabbed the tea cup and hurled it at Mathew. Mathew dodged with quick reaction and became furious at Alex's doing.

"Yo Drew, let's teach this guy a lesson," Mathew gritted his teeth.

The two of them quickly drew out their katanas. Alex had his arrows and bow ready, preparing to fire. They stared at each other in awkward silence, but the moment was broken in a flash. Mathew unleashed a power strike in a split second and cut Alex's bow in half. Alex stood at his spot inertly, astounded by Mathew's speed.

"His stance, his posture, it must be a Power Strike. Dad said it's a very powerful move used by warriors, but it's very slow. How can it be.." thought Alex, panic rising in his heart.

Mathew has had his hands around Alex's throat before he could finish his thoughts. Alex's mind went blank; he struggled to get out of Mathew's hold. But the more he struggled, the more Mathew tightened his grip. Alex moved his hands around anxiously; desperate to grab anything he could. Suddenly, he felt something hard on the table behind him, without thinking; he grabbed it and pushed it into Mathew's throat. Mathew let out a horrifying scream and backed off. A terrified expression appeared on his face. Alex, who didn't seem to understand what has just happened, stared blankly at Mathew. Mathew opened his mouth and attempted to make a sound, but all that came out was a croak. Alex suddenly became aware of his actions, realizing that the object he grabbed seconds ago was a Wolbi throwing star. He backed away from Mathew in fear.

"d.. drew… te.. tell da.. a.. ad…" whispered Mathew.

All of a sudden, he pulled out the Wolbi Star from his throat. Blood flooded out. He fell to the floor, twitched a few times, and stopped moving. Drew lifted Mathew's body in his arms and walked to the door emotionlessly.

He turned back to Alex, gazed at him, and said, "You're in for it now.." With that he left the café.

"What.. What did I just do? I didn't, I didn't mean to kill him.." Alex stood there as if he was frozen.

Several hours passed, Alex finally decided to go back home, but he disregarded one detail ----- Jennifer and that old man was here the entire time and had witnessed this whole incident. It was nearly dark. Alex walked inside his home at a snail's pace. He looked up at his dad, who was sitting in a chair in the living room.

"Gone hunting again? Did you get anything good?" smiled Chief Stan gently.

"No," replied Alex.

"What's wrong? Something on your mind?" asked Chief Stan in a concerning manner.

"No, no, it's nothing," Alex responded half-heartedly.

"If you say so.." Chief Stan raised one brow.

"I think I'm going to bed now," Alex walked towards the stairs.

"I know you're still not over your mother's death, but try to feel better, please," said Chief Stan, who seemed upset.

"This has nothing to do with mom," responded Alex.

"Well, come down here, I have good news," said Chief Stan, suddenly turned cheerful, "something unbelievable happened today, Manji finally accepted my request and decided to hunt down the Balrog that killed your mother, two of his pupils are on their way right now to greet us."

"Really? Is this Manji person that strong?" Alex asked, and his mind eased a bit from today's incident.

Chief Stan looked at Alex in awe.

"You don't know Manji? I can't believe you're asking this! His muscle strength as a warrior cannot compare with Dances with Balrog, but he has a trick up his sleeve. Do you know the reason why he's so feared in Victoria Island? It's not because of his strength; it's because of a skill he invented, called 'Second Booster'."

"Second Booster?" Alex wondered.

"I'm sure you have heard of the skill, Booster, and that it can be used for many different weapons, they increase your weapon's speed twice. Second Booster is similar to the "first" Booster, it also increases your weapon speed, except by five times, and not twice, which makes a warrior's Power Strike look like a bandit's Savage Blow. Now imagine a thief's speed with a warrior's strength, scary, isn't it."

At the end of this sentence, Alex turned senseless, his eyes full of fear.

"Did – did you say two of Manji's pupils are on their way here before?" Alex opened his eyes wide.

"Yes, what's wrong? Is .." Chief Stan's sentence was interrupted before he could finish.

A maid stormed into the living room and spoke breathlessly, "Our – our – chef…" (Alex's family is very wealthy; therefore they can afford to hire maids and chefs.)

"Relax, there's no need to rush, what happened?" Chief Stan spoke calmly.

"Our chef Roberto is dead!"

Chief Stan trembled, "What?!? Let's go check it out right away!" he said, trying to keep as cool as possible.

The three of them walked to the kitchen in fast pace, Alex's nanny was already there, standing beside Roberto's body. Chief Stan moved to it quickly and started examining.

"Hmm," he had his eyebrows locked together tightly, "this is definitely a murder, his heart has been pierced by a thin sword."

Alex let out a gasp. Chief Stan suddenly turned to Alex, and felt something wrong.

"Do you know anything about this, Alex?" asked the Chief.

Alex knew he couldn't hide today's incident any longer. So he told Chief Stan everything that had happened, about how he got into a fight with the two guys, and how he killed one of them accidentally. He spoke with plenty of details, including the speed of Mathew's sword. Chief Stan listened to the story in silence. By the time Alex finished; he knew something was not right. There was a period of stillness, and then Chief Stan spoke.

"Did the two of them mention anything else?"

"No, no they didn't," Alex replied.

"It can't be this coincidental, it just can't…" Chief Stan muttered to himself.

After a short while, he ordered the maid to take care of the body.

"Alex, come back to the living room, there is more I want to talk to you about,"

Chief Stan walked out of the kitchen and waved his hand in Alex's direction. The two of them went inside the living room.

"Son, there is another thing you should know about. Long time ago, when I was still young, Manji was a cold-blooded killer and he was feared all across Victoria Island. But due to some unknown reason, he quit his life as a villain. No one knew the cause of this, but some say it had a lot to do with my father."

"Grandpa? What could he have done?" Alex demanded an answer.

"It's just a rumor. By the way, I have never told you much about your grandfather, have I? He was a very powerful ranger; his skills' were not any inferior compared to Athena Pierce. But I didn't have the ability to inherit much of his skills," said Chief Stan wearily, "that's all… Get some rest; we're going back to that café the first thing tomorrow."

Alex lied on his bed, unable to fall asleep. Today's event had been replayed innumerable times in his head, until finally, he began to feel woozy.

"Wake up!" shouted Chief Stan from downstairs.

Alex looked at the clock; it was 8 in the morning. He dressed up slowly and climbed downstairs, looking exhausted. Since their chef was gone, the two of them had burnt waffles for breakfast. They left the mansion right after and went straight to the café. The front doors were closed when they got there, Alex knocked on the door.

"Hey, open up! Open up!" he shouted, but got no response.

Chief Stan looked as if he expected this to happen and ordered Alex to kick down the door. Alex froze for a second, then unwillingly, kicked the doors open. The two of them jumped inside, looked around, but found no one. They searched every inch of the café. Suddenly, something caught Chief Stan's eyes. It was a pair of emerald earrings.

"This is odd," he held the earrings in his hands, "Alex, you said there were only two people inside the café when you entered, right? So these earrings must've belonged to that young waitress, but how can an ordinary girl possess such an expensive thing?" This question has suddenly made Alex wonder.

"That girl Jennifer, something was odd about her. Why was she so emotionless? Why had she been looking down the whole time? And why didn't her expression change when Mathew was being rude?... " thought Alex.

Chief Stan was looking at Alex, expecting him to say something. Alex spoke what was on his mind, after a short while, Chief Stan said, "I think that girl and the old man has a lot to do with this whole incident, but for now, let's head back home."

They left the café, and walked home only to see the statue of Alex's mother broken into pieces. Alex went furious.

"I'm the one who killed Mathew, COME AND GET ME!" Screamed Alex.

All of a sudden, laughter came from inside the mansion, a young man in samurai suits walked out.

"Hey, what's up?" said the young man with a fiendish smirk on his face.

Without thinking, Alex jumped at him, raising his fists. The young man dodged with ease, and gave Alex a push, making him fall flat on his face. Alex stood up, attempting to fight again.

"Let's not rush this, alright?" the young man said with a bored expression, "all the servants inside your house has just been killed by me, so right now, I don't feel much like killing, what do you say we play a bit?"

Alex glared malevolently at the young man after having found out about the deaths of their servants, but at the same time, he was horror-struck and completely disgusted.

"Who are you?" asked Chief Stan, trying to keep calm, but his voice still shook with anger.

"I'm Seth, surely you have heard of me right?" said the young man without looking at the Chief.

"Of course, you're Manji's best student, but what are you doing in a place like this?" Chief Stan glared at Seth.

"Nothing much, just trying to find the person who killed Manji's son."

Chief Stan almost fell to the floor at the end of this sentence, reality was harder to handle than his worst fear. He stood for a while, and finally decided to open his mouth and speak.

"So… What do you want?"

Seth stared at him like he was a joke, "I just want to invite you to meet my teacher Manji."

"And if we refuse?"

"Then I'll have to force you to come."

Chief Stan thought for a moment, and finally decided to go with him, Alex followed.

"Oh yah, you'll have to wear these handcuffs," said Seth flatly.

Alex had an enraged look in his eyes; he swore violently inside his head, "These bastards will get it!" The three of them left Henesys, and began to travel to Perion…


	2. Preface

**Preface**

The continent of Victoria is at war with Ludibrium Clock Tower's Phantasy Seekers. As the hatred between the two grows more immense, to have a sense of loyalty to one's own nation has become a fundamental factor for survival. Even making eye contact with the enemy will classify you a traitor. The few who wishes to join the Phantasy Seekers will never be able to quit at will and also become the most hated in Victoria Island. The continent of Ossyria stands neutral in this war, however, they do not wish to be affected by the outcome of the it....


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Lyra**

Alex woke up in the middle of the night, the past few days had been terrible. Seth treated them worse each passing day, as of now, their hands and legs had been both tied by ropes and their mouth was gagged. They rested in an inn outside of Ellinia; still having a long way to go until reaching Perion. Suddenly, a figure leapt into Alex's room, grabbed him, and broke out. Alex stared the person for a brief moment and recognized her; she was the young waitress girl. He lied flat in her arms and tried to organize his thoughts, but the sweet smell coming from her made him lose concentration. He slightly moved his head for a more comfortable position, but as he did so, something soft touched his face. Keen to discover what it was, he turned inward and pressed his face into the girl's breasts. She grunted with annoyance and Alex quickly turned around, blushing furiously. Then, abruptly, she let go of Alex and threw him into the nearest bush. Alex let out a muffled scream through the gag.

He suddenly heard sounds of combat and quietly lifted his head above the bushes to study his surroundings. He saw Seth in a fight against two people, the girl on the left, and the old man who owned the café on the right.

"I thought these two were on Manji's side, but apparently, I'm wrong. Sigh, if I knew she was so strong, why did I defend her in the café," Alex regretted, "Anyways, I should go rescue dad now," but he was immobilized by the ropes.

"Who – who are you two?" Seth growled.

Neither the old man nor the girl answered. They both ran around Seth swiftly, throwing stars at him with Lucky Seven. Seth was backed into a corner.

"Wh – what's the meaning of this?" his voice full of panic.

Suddenly, a star hit Seth's katana and it fell out of his hands, the girl stepped forward and chucked a star at his face, but the old man caught it in mid air with his claw.

"Don't hurt him!" he shouted.

"But he has killed so many!" the girl argued.

"You did what you set out to do, so let's go, now!" the old man yelled out.

"Always have to do things your way. Fine, let's go" murmured the girl in a disappointed tone.

The two of them backed away from Seth and ran into the dark night. Seth stood at his spot, still sweating.

"What in wonderland?? What's wrong with these damned people?" cursed Seth, "they must've had too much free time, screwing around with me for no damn reason!"

He thought for a bit, then realized what he had just said and laughed at his own stupidity.

"Too bad I lost that sissy boy, but at least the Chief's not gone. Manji will still be pleased," he chuckled for a while and went back to the Inn.

Alex kneeled in the bushes and watched as Seth walked away, "I have to go rescue dad!" this thought appeared in his head numerous times.

There was one problem, Alex couldn't move, he was all tied up. He looked around to search for a method. To his luck, he found a star beside him; it must've been left there after the fight. He moved slowly towards it and held it in his hands, and then sawed through the rope bit by bit. After what seemed like an hour, he was finally free.

"I have to follow Seth if I want to rescue dad," thought Alex, "but first I have to disguise myself, so he won't notice me."

He took up some dirt from the ground, rubbed it on his face, and quickly ran back to the inn. It was nearly morning. Alex had searched every inch in the inn, but didn't find a single trace of his father or Seth.

"I guess I'll have to go to Perion by myself," Alex decided.

After long hours of traveling, Alex almost reached Ellinia. However, he was exhausted and hungry from the trip. So, he decided to ask for some food from the nearest home. Since Alex was born in a rich family, begging for food was one thing he had never done before. Even when he ran away from home, he took plenty of mesos with him, but this time, he was penniless. A woman opened the door; she had a broom in her hand with a murderous expression. Alex stood in front of the door with his face all red.

"Buh – Duh – Uhh," never had done this before, Alex blurted out.

"WHAT?" the woman shouted, she was in a bad mood after just having a fight with her husband, "from your dirty looks you probably want food, right? Well, you're not getting any. You're the one who took my husband's wand, aren't you? Made him go all mad at me, thinking that I took it!"

The woman, who was lost in the sensation of yelling at Alex, took her broom and smacked him. A bang was made when the broom collided with Alex's head. The woman suddenly looked apologetic, but nevertheless, shut the door in his face. Alex was stunned at the randomness of this happening.

"Well, let's try the next home."

Suddenly, the doors opened again. The woman came out with a smile on her face, handed Alex a piece of bread and closed the door. Alex stood with his eyes wide open, completely lost at the extreme randomness of the occurrence.

After a day of traveling, he entered the village of Ellinia. Rain started pouring down; Alex quickly ran to the nearest inn. To his surprise, this inn was incredibly packed of people. He found a place and sat down, "I'll just stay here for a bit," Alex thought.

"Hey, buddy," someone patted Alex on the back, "you mind if I sit here? There are no more seats left."

Alex turned around and came face to face with a boy about the same age as him, "sure," said Alex quietly, who didn't want to draw any attention.

"So you're here for the ceremony of Chun Ji, huh? It's gonna be great, I heard that the four rulers of Victoria Island will be there, and also Manji."

Alex shook at the mention of Manji's name. He was scared to ask for more information, but his desire to rescue his father quickly overcame his fear.

"What ceremony?" Alex smiled weakly.

The boy looked at Alex in amazement.

"WHAT? You mean you've never heard about this ceremony? Oh god. Where have you been man?" the boy screamed.

"So are you gonna tell me about it or what?" said Alex irritably.

"Alright, alright. Basically, this ceremony's being held because Chun Ji is quitting the Victorian alliance. Surely, you know about the Victorian alliance, right?"

"No?" Alex stared at the boy.

"God, how do I explain this? Okay, we're at war against Ludibrium Clock Tower."

Alex nodded his head.

"Good, you knew that at least. Well, the Victorian alliance was established to fight against the Phantasy Seekers."

"Phantasy Seekers?"

"Oh, that's what the Ludibrium Clock Tower people called themselves. How could you not have known this," the boy shook his head and continued, "the alliance was created by six powerful individuals, Dances with Balrog, Grendel the Really Old, Athena Pierce, Dark Lord, Manji, and Chun Ji," he paused for a second, "Just recently, the six of them got together, and decided they needed a leader for it, but the problem was how were they going to select one? That was an uneasy question. So Chun Ji came up with the idea of a competition, a competition that only involved fighting, and the winner, who's obviously the strongest of the six, will be the leader. None of the others agreed to this at first, but no one came up with a better idea, so in the end, they had no choice but to have the competition."

"So who won the competition?" Alex inquired.

"Hang on, I'm getting there. Look, since Chun Ji came up with the idea, he was full of confidence, but lemme tell you the whole story," the boy chuckled with a proud look in his eyes, "The first match was Manji against Grendel the Really Old, but for some odd reason, Manji didn't give much of a fight, and Grendel won easily. Then came the second match, Dances with Balrog versus Athena Pierce, they both gave up a good fight, but in the end, Dances with Balrog won. Finally, the third match began; it was the Dark Lord against Chun Ji. At first, Dark Lord refused to compete, he said he wasn't interested in being the leader, but Chun Ji wouldn't stop trying to convince him. So in the end, Dark Lord agreed to fight, but it was obvious he didn't put efforts into the fight, so Chun Ji won."

"Oh, so only three are left, Dances with Balrog, Grendel the Really Old, and Chun Ji," said Alex.

"Correct. Can you guess who won in the end?" asked the boy.

"Chun Ji?" said Alex, who seemed unsure.

"Of course not! Why would he quit the alliance if he had become the leader?" the boy shouted at Alex, "It was Dances with Balrog that won! And you know why Chun Ji is quitting the alliance?" the boy looked at Alex arrogantly, and whispered, "it might just be a rumor, but many people say that he's quitting out of shame, because…" The boy had his mouth opened wide, but suddenly stopped talking.

"What's wrong?" asked Alex, "Hello?"

Alex waved his hands in front of the boy and tried to get a reaction from him. Then, abruptly, the boy fell onto the table. Alex was bewildered, he examined the boy and something had caught his eyes. A black object was jammed into the boy's back; he took it out and realized it's a throwing star.

"Murder!!" someone beside Alex screamed.

Every pair of eyes was staring in Alex's direction now. Since no one wanted to be involved in this, most of them left in an instant. The inn was nearly emptied, leaving only Alex and two guys who lied on a table, fast asleep.

"Who killed him?" Alex pondered, "This is not good, I've drawn too much attention, if Manji finds out I'm here, I'm dead meat!"

Suddenly, steps were heard from outside the Inn.

"Aaron, this rain's not stopping, my clothes are soaked," a clear and pleasant voice came from outside the inn, "Can we go and stay in that inn for a bit?"

Alex trembled at the sound of this voice; it belonged to that waitress girl. He quickly made his hair messier to not be recognized by the girl.

"A bit of rest is good," Aaron replied, "And Lyra, you gotta stop with all these whining."

"Lyra? I thought her name was Jennifer," wondered Alex, who now finds the girl even more mysterious, "She must've used a fake name. And Aaron is probably that old man."

The two walked inside the inn. Alex couldn't help but look up. What he saw was way beyond expected. The girl was no longer emotionless and unattractive, instead she was fair-haired and pretty, her eyes were big and expressive, her skin was almost see-through, and she still had the same gorgeous body as before. Judging from her looks, she's approximately seventeen years old. The old man was nowhere near as old as when Alex first saw him, he was only in his thirties at max. But from their voice there was no doubt that these two were indeed the two from the café.

"What the?" Alex stared at both of them with large eyes, "How?"

One of the guys who were sleeping on a table moments ago suddenly let out a laughter and almost made Alex jump up.

"Haha, you guys are finally here," the guy said, he had spiky hair, "Lyra, you should've came a bit early, then you could've seen Arman's accuracy. See that body over there?"

"Whoa, is he dead?" the girl whimpered, and backed off a few steps, "How come there's no blood?"

"Relax, relax" he laughed, "He's not dead, Arman didn't use enough force for him to die."

Arman suddenly woke up, his eyes swollen after his nap.

"What's going on Erwin?" he rubbed his eyes, "Lyra? Aaron? You guys finally here?"

"Arman!" Aaron shouted, "Do you realize what you have done? You almost killed someone!"

"Chillax dude, I'm just fooling around. Besides, he's the one who started all the non-sense talking. Just leave him here for now, he'll wake up soon," Arman replied lazily, "Aaron, why do you always have to act so mature?"

"Because I am," Aaron replied, "I am the only one here who actually has some responsibilities."

"Okay, okay. We get it Aaron," said Lyra irritably, "By the way, where's Caden?"

"Already asking for Caden," Erwin snorted, "What about me?"

"What _about you_? You're standing right here alive as ever!" Lyra stomped her foot, "So tell me, where's Caden?"

"He went to the nearest casino," Erwin replied, "Should be coming anytime now."

"Gambling again?" Lyra had a displeased look in her eyes, "Someone should've stopped him, it's a really harmful sport."

"Stop him?? Are you mad?" Erwin almost shouted, "He would've knocked me out if I tried to stop him. Maybe if _you_ tried..."

Everyone started laughing.

"What's so funny?" Lyra grunted.

"Caden's gambling because he has nothing better to do when you're not here," teased Erwin.

"Non-sense," said Lyra, but felt happy inside her heart.

"So what'd you guys find out in Henesys?" Arman turned to Aaron, "Did Manji really go after Chief Stan?"

Alex almost fell off his chair at Arman's sentence; he focused as hard as he can to hear what they were saying.

"He only sent Seth to do the job," Aaron responded.

Erwin suddenly burst out laughing at the mention of Seth's name.

"What are you laughing at," Arman looked at Erwin as if he had gone mad.

"Seth? You mean that guy who calls himself the sword of flashing light?" Erwin snickered, "I just remembered how Caden beat him up a few months ago."

"Caden beat him up?" asked Lyra, apparently interested in the subject, "Why would he do that?"

"Turned out Caden didn't like Seth's nickname. So when he saw him, Caden yelled out loudly, 'The sword of flashing light? More like the dork that no one likes!' You should've seen Seth's reaction; he jumped at Caden without even thinking. But he was no match for Caden. Caden went around him, kicked him in the butt, and he fell to the ground with a mouthful of dirt. Then when Seth turned around, Caden had already grabbed me and hid into the bushes."

Alex listened to this in excitement, suddenly liking this Caden person. Aaron, Lyra, and Arman all laughed hysterically after Erwin's story.

"Enough about Caden now," said Arman, "Tell us what happened in Henesys."

So Aaron told them the whole story, about how he and Lyra disguised themselves and pretended to own a café, and how Seth murdered Chief Stan's whole family, leaving only the Chief and his son. Then at the end of the story, he added how Lyra went to rescue Alex for defending her.

"Wow, he murdered a whole family of people?" Erwin said fearfully.

Suddenly, a middle-aged woman stormed inside the Inn.

"Where is Caden? Tell him to get out here!" She yelled with an enraged look in her eyes.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Rescue**

Aaron immediately recognized the woman. She had long white hair with a shiny blue Hinkle bow in her hand. He stood up and bowed to her.

"Bow master Athena Pierce," he smiled politely, "A pleasure to meet you."

Athena ignored him and eyed each and everyone in the inn suspiciously, finally resting her sight on Lyra.

"Dark Lord's pupils are getting out of control now, what are the four of you up to?" Athena snarled, "and Lyra, tell me, where is Caden?"

"I don't know," her voice quivered, "Why? Did he do something?"

"He kidnapped my niece!" Athena roared, "Do you call that anything?"

Lyra's tears almost fell out, "There must be some kind of misunderstanding," she uttered.

"Misunderstanding? Simon, come in, tell them what you saw," Athena turned to the door and a boy around fifteen years of age stepped inside.

He wore blue Doros robe and held an old wooden staff. He looked at everyone nervously, and spoke with almost inaudible voice.

"Just this morning I saw three people sitting in a bar, two of them had the Alliance crest sewed onto their shirts. So I thought it might be nice to say hi since I'm a member of the alliance too. I went over and the assassin introduced them to me. He said his name was Caden, one of Dark Lord's pupils. Then he pointed to the girl sitting in the middle and said she was Selena. Oh boy, she was the prettiest girl I've ever seen. But she looked so sad, almost as if she was crying," Simon recalled.

"Enough of the useless details, tell them who was sitting on the right!" Athena shouted.

"Right, right. I couldn't believe it when Caden first introduced him to me, but he said that person's name is Bill Sun, and he's one of the Phantasy Seekers!" Simon spoke uneasily, "I ran out of the bar as soon as he said that, then I met the Bow master and told her what happened."

"Enough evidence?" Athena stared at Lyra intensely.

"Caden must've had too much to drink, he's drunk," Lyra tried to explain, "Please, he doesn't know what he's doing!"

"Well, since one of Dark Lord's pupils took my niece," said Athena, "Then I'll have to take one of you!"

She suddenly clutched Lyra's hands and started marching towards the door. Everyone stared at Athena, wanting to help Lyra but was powerless to do so. Moments before Athena stepped out; a girl around thirteen years old appeared in front of her.

"Are you the Bow master?" the girl asked politely.

"Yes, and you are?" Athena looked at the girl.

"I'm just here to let you know that Chun Ji's ceremony will be starting soon, and if you could please follow me to the magical library," said the girl, then she turned to Lyra's group and spoke again, "All of you must be Dark Lord's pupils, please follow me to the ceremony too."

Athena had no choice but to let Lyra go, there was no way she'd show up in Chun Ji's ceremony grabbing Lyra. The girl started walking outside, Athena and the four followed behind.

"What about those two?" the girl suddenly pointed to Alex and the fainted boy, "Are they one of you too?"

"Oh, no, no," Arman tried to explain, "It's okay, just leave them here, they're not one of us."

Alex sat on the table, "if Manji's gonna be there, I better follow them to this ceremony," he thought, "But I can't let them notice me."

The girl, Athena Pierce, and four of Dark Lord's pupils walked towards the magical library, Alex followed from a distant fretfully. They climbed a few ladders until reaching the top of Ellinia, where the magical library is located. This was where Chun Ji's ceremony was to be held. There were two wizards standing in front of the library as guest greeters. Alex lost sight of the six in the crowd of people who were entering the ceremony, but was sure they went inside. He gathered up his courage and walked inside too. There were hundreds of people sitting in the library when he entered, all having conversations and making noises. Alex looked around until he saw Lyra and the group sitting on a table at the left corner, but Athena wasn't with them. He then looked from table to table and his heart skipped a beat when he saw Drew sitting on a table near Lyra.

"This person is Manji's student, I have to watch out for him, maybe I'll be able to find dad," he felt excited and scared at the same time.

While Alex was in his thoughts, the library became quiet as two people each carrying a wizard on their back rushed inside the library and climbed upstairs.

Everyone was discussing quietly about what had just happened, "Did you see the two wizards?" "Whoa, they were seriously injured, are they dead?" "They're probably dead…"

While people were whispering, a mage walked down from upstairs towards Lyra's table and looked at Aaron.

"Aaron? Grendel wants to see you, please follow me upstairs," said the wizard with heated expression.

"Sure thing," Aaron replied.

They climbed upstairs to a cozy room, Aaron saw six different colored chairs in the middle, two was empty, and in the other four sat Athena Pierce, Manji, Chun Ji, and Grendel. Aaron bowed to each and everyone of them, but when it was Grendel's turn, Grendel stood up and shouted, "WHERE IS CADEN?" It was so loud that even the guests downstairs heard it. Lyra couldn't help but worry about Caden.

Aaron was stunned for at least a minute before he could answer. "Caden, he said he was going for a drink yesterday, we never saw him again, but he should be coming here soon though," he said.

"You think he has the courage to show up? Does he even consider himself a member of the alliance anymore? He was together with Bill Sun! A Phantasy Seeker!" Grendel said with enraged look.

"I'm… I'm sure he had some unspeakable reason," Aaron stuttered.

"Bull –"Grendel stopped before shouting out that word, "Non-sense! Mike tell them how you got injured, and see if he still thinks Caden doesn't know what he was doing"

The two injured wizards who were carried in a while ago were lying on the floor, one of them apparently dead and the other badly injured. Mike, the injured wizard, spoke softly, "This morning we saw little Simon and he told us that someone from the Alliance was with a Phantasy Seeker in a casino, and we decided to go check it out," He coughed and went on, "When we arrived there, we saw an assassin full of blood, but he showed no signs of pain and he was smiling and joking with someone who wore clothes very much like a Phantasy Seeker. Bow master's niece was there too, she seemed to be forced into this. The assassin said to the Phantasy Seeker, 'Hey, you say you're famous because of your skill, Haste, but word of advise, no matter how fast your haste is, as long as you got the 'bad luck forever', you'll never be able to flee from battles.' So David and I," he pointed to the dead body on the floor, "quickly took out our wands, but we had to be sure before doing anything reckless, then we saw the dagger on that guy's waist, and the Phantasy Emblem on his arm. We knew for sure that he is a foe so we went up and challenged him, but unfortunately David died in the battle," Mike sighed, "And the assassin, who's obviously Caden, just sat there, not helping out at all. Instead, he kicked me in the chest during the battle."

Suddenly, a girl climbed upstairs; she stood aside and waited for her turn to speak.

"Yes? Diana, what'd you find out?" Grendel turned to her.

"We didn't find Caden, but we did find someone who's been killed by him," Diana replied.

"Who?"

She turned to Manji and spoke, "I'm sorry Master Manji, but it's your student Seth."

"Seth?" gasped Manji, "What.."

Manji was interrupted before he could finish. A girl teleported into the library, and she carried a dead body in her hands. The body belonged to Seth, his throat had been struck by a Kumbi throwing star with the initial C.K written in the middle.

"Caden, I see," Manji muttered to himself.

At that moment, a tender and clear voice came from downstairs, "Aunt Athena, I'm back."

Everyone looked towards the stairs, wanting to see the girl who publicly went out with a Phantasy Seeker. She quietly walked inside the room, approximately fifteen years old. She had dimples and was prettier than an angel. She dashed towards Athena, threw herself in her arms, and cried uncontrollably.

"Selena, you're back," said Athena in a relieved tone.

Manji only took a glimpse of her and turned back to study the Kumbi throwing star. He suddenly stood up, rushed towards Aaron and grabbed a star from his pocket. He gazed at the initial A.R in the middle of it.

"Do all of Dark Lord's pupils put their initials on their throwing stars?" Manji glared at Aaron.

Before Aaron could answer, Selena opened her mouth and spoke, "Yea, that's what Caden-Bro said."

"What did you call him?!" Athena almost shouted at Selena, "Caden-Bro?"

"Yea," Lyra looked at Athena innocently, 'What's wrong?"

Athena knew something was odd, so she inquired to Selena, "Tell us what happened after we were separated yesterday. Skip the unnecessary details."

"Bill Sun is a bad man, he.." Selena spoke uneasily.

"Yes, you don't have to tell us that. I will kill Caden and Bill," Athena responded.

"Caden-Bro? He.. he," tears suddenly burst out of Selena's eyes, "He's already dead!"

Everyone in the room was surprised to hear about Caden's death, Grendel's anger suddenly disappeared and asked, "He died? How?"

"This bad man killed him!" Selena pointed to Seth's body.

Manji felt proud inside his heart, "So Seth was able to take Caden one on one after all, my best student's not any worse than the Dark Lord's," he thought.

"Start from the beginning and tell us what happened," Grendel said kindly.

"Sure. Yesterday, when I was on my way to Ellinia, it started raining. I found a cave nearby and I hid in it," Selena said clearly, "But as soon as I went in, I felt someone beside me. I turned around and saw a boy; he was around eighteen years old. I asked him what he was doing here, and he said the most inappropriate thing, 'you're so cute, let's go get a room.'"

Everyone was appalled by the girl's innocence and Bill's insanity.

"And he said that he wanted to kiss me," Selena went on, "Of course I didn't agree to go out with him, and I even warned him that my aunt is the Bow master of Henesys. But he didn't listen to me and said, 'Who cares about your aunt, she's too old to be my type, I just want you.'"

"I said skip the unnecessary details!" Athena barked.

Almost everyone in the room had a smile on their face now, wanting to laugh but couldn't.

"Yes, I asked what he meant by not his type --" Selena was disrupted before she could finish.

"What did I just say?!" Athena shouted.

"Oh, sorry," Selena smiled like a child, "We talked for a bit, he kept on saying how pretty and cute I was. Then he leaned forward and tried to kiss me. But out of nowhere, laughter came from outside the cave. Bill turned around and screamed, 'Who is it?' That guy laughed again, 'hahaha, hahaha,'" Selena tried to imitate but sounded ridiculous, "Bill threatened him and said, 'If you ruin my mood, then you're as good as dead!' But that guy just kept on laughing. It was really funny after a while, so I started laughing too."

Athena stared at Selena in amazement, "Stupid girl, your life was in danger, why would you laugh?"

Selena blushed and spoke embarrassedly, "Well, it was really funny," she paused, "Bill stood at the opening of the cave and waited for that guy to laugh again so he can find his location. But that guy seemed to notice it, he suddenly stopped laughing. I was scared that he might laugh again so I yelled, 'Be careful, he's going to catch you.' He replied and said, 'Thanks, but he can't catch me, he's not fast enough.'"

Everyone knew that Bill Sun was famous for his haste; there was no doubt he said that to anger bill.

"Bill got really mad and jumped out of the cave, he screamed, 'Okay, you say I'm not fast enough, then let's compare.'" Selena said vividly, "But he was tricked, that guy jumped inside the cave as Bill went out. He looked at me and asked if I was okay. I didn't know what he meant, why wouldn't I be okay. He answered saying, 'Do you know who that guy is? He's a very evil person, and if you're seen with him, people will think you're bad too. And we're all members of the alliance, so it's only natural to help you out,'"

"He's a member of the alliance?" Athena inquired.

"Yea, of course" Selena stared at Athena in awe, "He's Caden-Bro."

Everyone gasped at the mention of Caden's name.

"He grabbed me and we ran outside the cave, but Bill had already come back, so we hid into the bush near us. Bill went inside and found me missing, and then he started to swear a lot of words that I didn't even understand. After a while, he ran out of the cave and started swinging his dagger randomly at the bushes, a few times it almost hit me, but I was too scared to move. I suddenly felt blood dripped onto my face, and I noticed it was Caden-Bro's. I wondered if he was injured, but of course he was, because he put his arms over me the whole time to protect me. He shushed me when I tried to talk, then when Bill went away away; he let go and said, 'the injury's not that bad.' I felt more blood on my face now and knew that he was lying. I tried to get up but Caden-bro told me that Bill's going to be back again. After a while, Bill came back shouting like Caden predicted, 'Aha, found you!' I almost cried when Bill shouted that and the only thing that came to my mind was to run."

"No! He was just trying to trick you, if he saw you then he would've just went over and stabbed Caden, what was the point in yelling, apparently Caden is not that smart neither," Athena shook her head.

"No, Caden-Bro knew that he was lying, he stopped me just when I was about to stand up and put his hand over my mouth again to stop me from making noise. Bill kept on yelling, but he stopped after a while and went away. Caden-Bro whispered into my ears, 'I can't move around much,' I wanted to ask why, but suddenly remembered that his injuries were too deep. He went on and said, 'Bill's going to come back again, this time I think he might find us. So best thing to do now is take a risk and hide in the cave.'"

At the end of that sentence, almost everyone in the room gasped.

"Amazing! What courage and what cleverness!" praised Grendel.

"Just when we settled ourselves in the cave, Bill came running back again. Caden-Bro held my hands and we hid behind a rock at the back of the cave. The cave was pitching dark, I was a bit scared at first but Caden put his arms around me to comfort me. Bill suddenly jumped inside the cave and laughed, 'Found you,' and he put out his hands to grab me, but Caden threw a star at his face and Bill quickly leapt back. He threw a few more stars at Bill and he backed to the edge of the cave, then everything was silent, I can only hear their breaths and I felt extremely nervous," Selena spoke restlessly, "A moment later, Bill spoke, he said, 'So, you're an assassin, probably one of Dark Lord's pupils, you've got good skills.' Caden ignored him, turned to me and said, 'Get outta here, run to Ellinia!' But I couldn't just leave him here, so I insisted on staying and suggested that we might win if we fought together, but I think he got irritated at me and said, 'There's no way we can win against him. Hurry up and go to Ellinia, all of our allies are there, I don't think this guy will follow you.' But I didn't want to leave him so I told him I'm staying. He suddenly seemed really annoyed and said, 'If you don't go now I'm going to say bad things about you and your aunt!'" Selena suddenly stopped talking and looked at Athena.

"It's fine, go on," Athena said.

"No matter what he said, I just didn't want to leave. If he can risk his life saving mine, then I don't see why I can't do the same. But he suddenly started to yell, 'Oh I swear to god, I can't use my super assassin moves with you here, stop being an idiot and leave!' So I started to wonder if I should just go, maybe I really am distracting him. So I turned around to say bye. But he started yelling again, "Holy honey, GO! So the saying was true after all, 'after seeing an archer, it's bad luck forever!''"

Athena was infuriated; she stood up and yelled, "What non-sense! It's a good thing you left!"

"About Caden-Bro's death, does it have anything to do with seeing me? You know, about 'after seeing an archer, it's bad luck forever?'" asked Selena innocently.

"Absolutely not! That's non-sense. If it's true then everyone here today will have bad luck forever!" Athena shouted.

Many people in the room couldn't hold their laughter any longer and burst out laughing, but stopped right after seeing Athena's devilish glare.

"I ran towards Ellinia for help. After two hours or so, I suddenly saw Bill running behind me again; I almost fell to the floor. He said he just wanted to grab a drink with me and took me to a bar. I tried to refuse but he was too overpowering, so I had no choice but to do things his way," Selena said wearily, "Before we could settle ourselves in the bar and get comfortable, someone walked inside. He was full of blood, and he sat down on the chair beside me. He looked at Bill and both of them burst out laughing. From his voice I can tell that he was Caden-Bro!"


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Contest**

"I couldn't be more relieved to see Caden alive, but I really wished that he didn't follow us into the bar," Selena said with tears in her eyes.

"It's fine now," Athena comforted Selena, stroking her hair, "Go on with the story."

"Even though Caden-bro was full of blood, I can still tell that he was very good-looking, his expression showed no sign of injury," Selena blushed as she went on, "but I still can't believe the first thing he said to Bill was ''After seeing an archer, it's bad luck forever!' Do you believe it now?'"

"How dare him!" Athena roared.

"Calm down bow master," reasoned Grendel, "Caden was just trying to rescue your niece."

"He better be, for his own sake," Athena's anger ceased a little, "go on Selena."

"Bill really respected Caden's courage, but when he told Caden-bro, Caden just laughed and said, 'what can courage do, it will still lose to your dagger,'" Selena spoke dreamily, picturing Caden right in front of her, "suddenly a wizard jumped out of nowhere and shouted at Bill, 'What's that symbol on your arm?', Bill snorted and said, 'You mean this? The Phantasy Emblem?' Aunt Athena, what's a Phantasy Emblem?" Selena asked naively, "it was on Bill's arm and it just looked like a twisted clock to me."

"All the Seekers have that emblem somewhere on them," Athena replied, "and that's how we identify them."

"Oh, it looked pretty cool, I wish I had one," said Selena in a harmless tone.

"Don't let me catch you saying that again! You got it?" Athena snarled, "That's the one thing you don't want to have!"

"Sorry," Selena stuck her tongue out and apologized innocently, "Oh wait! What's he doing here?" Selena suddenly pointed to the dead wizard on the floor.

"Was he the one who shouted at Bill in the bar?" Grendel questioned knowingly.

"How'd you know?" Selena's eyes opened wide, "were you there?"

"No. I just figured," Grendel spoke softly, "David was a good kid, but always so reckless. So Selena, tell us what happened next."

"That wizard," Selena pointed at the dead wizard again.

"You can call him David," Grendel interrupted before Selena could continue.

"So his name's David. He held out his wand and cast magic claws on Bill after confirming the emblem, but it didn't seem to scratch Bill," smiled Selena.

"Of course not," Grendel sighed, "he's a Seeker."

"After that I saw Bill's hand twitch a bit and out of nowhere, David started to bleed," Selena quivered as she spoke, "I didn't have a chance to see exactly what Bill did. Streams of blood suddenly poured out from David, I almost fainted at that sight."

"Savage blow," Athena has her brows locked tightly, "bandit's deadliest move. Was there six strikes to his body?"

"There's no doubt," Grendel answered before Selena could, gritting his teeth, "continue on Selena."

"This other wizard," Selena pointed at Mike, the one lying beside David, "jumped at Bill after David fell, Bill took out his dagger again and jammed it into the wizard, but before Bill could do that savage thing again, Caden-bro leapt up and kicked the wizard to the floor."

"And that's why Mike is still alive," said Grendel with appreciation towards Caden, "if it wasn't for Caden, Bill would've probably killed him."

Selena looked amazed, "So that's why Caden kicked him, and for a moment there I thought he hated wizards too," Selena grinned.

"Stop talking non-sense, you're becoming like Caden," Athena scowled.

"Really?" Selena's eyes shined.

"Except you don't have half his courage, and not even a quarter of his intelligence," Athena beamed.

"Aw," Selena groaned disappointedly.

"Go on with the story," Athena was a bit annoyed at herself for praising Caden.

"Mike took David and left the bar," Selena went on, "almost everyone else left too, I thought we were going to leave also, but Caden and Bill sat back down and started talking again. 'Why don't you just let this stupid archer go, even looking at her pisses me off,' Caden-bro said that to Bill, at that moment, I actually thought he really hated me, but now I know he was just trying to save me," she said with a relieved tone, "Bill examined Caden-bro for a while and asked, 'what exactly do you see in this girl, why would you risk your life to save her? Are you in love with her or somethin? I'll let you have her if you want.'"

"That Bill! I'm going to rip his head off for you!" said Athena who's full of anger.

Selena smiled weakly and continued, "Caden-bro started shouting after Bill finished his sentence, he said he'd rather die than being with an archer."

"Looks like I'm going to have to rip Caden's head off too!" Athena shouted.

"Bow master, remember? He was only trying to save your niece," Grendel replied gently, "go on with the story Selena."

"Caden-bro turned to me and yelled, 'get outta here you stupid girl, you're ruining my mood!'" Selena said wearily, "Just when I stood up, Bill grabbed my arm and pulled me back down to the seat. I turned around to look at Caden, he seemed angry, but when he saw me he smiled and attempted to comfort me."

"Perhaps we've misjudged him, he does seem nice," murmured Athena.

"Yea he really is, but something is really wrong with that Bill," said Selena, "Why does he want to go out with me so much that he'd kill people to do it?"

"Because he likes you a lot," smirked Manji, who's finally done examining Seth's body, "Tell us what happened next, how did Seth get involved in this?"

"Caden-bro kept on persuading Bill to let me go, but whatever he said, Bill just wouldn't listen," Selena recalled, "So finally Caden said, 'Fine, how about this, we'll have a contest, the loser will have to obey one command from the winner.' Bill glared at Caden-bro for a while, then finally opened his mouth and answered, 'Sure, what's the contest going to be?'"

"That was a mistake on Bill, letting Caden decide the contest," grinned Grendel.

"Bill seemed like he knew what he was doing though," Selena added.

"So what was the competition?"

"Caden-bro said they were going to fight again. But there is an additional rule; you're only allowed to stay inside the bar, if any part of your body goes outside, you lose," Selena recalled, "Bill nodded at the condition and smiled at Caden-bro, he said, 'What makes you think you can beat me now? Remember what happened inside the cave?'"

Athena suddenly looked well-informed of what's going to happen, but she kept her mouth shut and let Selena continue.

"Caden-bro smiled back at Bill and said, 'I was brought up by the Dark Lord inside a bar, there is where I trained and mastered my skills. You won't believe how much of a terrain advantage I've got over you.' But Bill didn't look convinced at all, he eyed Caden suspiciously and said, 'That doesn't make the slightest sense, but if you insist on fighting here, so be it. Let's do this!' Before Bill could take out his dagger, Caden yelled out, 'Hold on, are you absolutely sure about this, and do you agree to the condition?' Bill looked extremely irritated and said, 'C'mon, when I agree that means I agree, I don't take back my words, let's fight already!' Then all of a sudden, Caden started laughing. He lifted me up, threw me outside the bar, and shouted, 'Run! Get out of here!' But before I could land on my feet, Bill already jumped after me. He caught me in mid air and asked, 'Where do you think you're going?' Then he turned back at Caden and yelled, 'What'd you do that for?' I looked at Caden-bro and he had the slyest look on his face. He laughed then announced, 'Look where you're standing.' Bill looked puzzled for a second, and then suddenly realized that he had already stepped out of the bar."

"Haha, that Caden, cunning as a fox," laughed Grendel.

"You should've seen how mad Bill was, he accused Caden-bro of cheating, but Caden chuckled and said, 'The rule's the rule, now you'll have to obey one of my commands.' Bill stood at his spot inertly, then finally said, 'Fine, what's it gonna be?' Caden snorted, 'I want you, to protect this girl forever, and obey her every word.' Bill swore loudly at Caden-bro after hearing what he had to say; but Caden-bro just stood at his spot and shook his head. At last, Bill couldn't take it anymore, he ran outside the bar hastily without looking back. Caden-bro burst out laughing after Bill departed; I looked at him and laughed too." Selena finished with cherry red cheeks.

"But that doesn't explain what happened to Seth," Manji glowered.

Selena was suddenly on the verge of tears, her voiced was unsteady as she spoke, "I finally starting to feel relieved after watching Bill leave, then this bad man came in," she pointed at Seth, "he came in and sat down close to us, and studied us suspiciously. I can tell Caden-bro was annoyed. He suddenly turned to me and said, 'Hey look, it's the dork that no one likes!' That bad man stood up and shouted, 'So it's you!'"

"Stop addressing Manji's student as 'that bad man', call him by the name," Athena said with raised brows.

"But he is a bad man," Selena tried to argue.

"That's enough!"

"Fine," Selena replied, apparently unsatisfied, "Seth took out his katana and jabbed it into Caden-bro's heart in a flash, I didn't even know what happened until it was too late."

By now everyone in the room was starring at Manji and Seth with resentment. Manji felt extremely awkward but couldn't do anything to help it.

"Caden-bro turned to me with his last breath and whispered, 'the Dragon Claymore is at…'Seth suddenly seemed interested in the subject and rushed to Caden-bro, 'Where is it?' he asked, and that's when Caden-bro threw his star into Seth's throat."

"So Caden tricked Seth, what's this Dragon Claymore?" Grendel inquired, turning to Manji as if he knows something. Manji looked surprisingly guilty. He laughed, trying to be calm, but no one was convinced at his pathetic attempt to keep cool.

Suddenly a body flew inside the room from the window. Manji quickly recognized the person and bellowed, "Drew, what happened to you?"

A voice came from outside the library, "Haha, here's another dork that no one likes!"

Manji quickly leapt out of the window to pursue the owner of the voice, but it was already too late, there was no trace of him. He came back into the room with a cold face. "Drew, who did this to you, answer me!"

"I don't know. He was too fast, I didn't even get to see his face," Drew moaned, "I was downstairs having some tea then all of a sudden, I got thrown in here."

Manji's face went colder as Drew spoke; he quickly climbed downstairs and studied everyone in the library. Then, someone in the crowd caught his attention, he's around sixteen years of age with a quite handsome face, but the most bizarre thing about him is, that he has white hair!

Manji pondered in his heart, "Could it be the snow devil Raliel? But he's a Seeker, must be pretty insane to come to a place where almost everyone of the Alliance is gathered. But just to make sure," Manji walked towards the white haired person, opened his mouth, and spoke, "You wouldn't happen to know Raliel by any chance, would you?"

The person with the white hair is actually no other than Alex! He was sitting inside the library when Aaron was summoned upstairs. Since he was very filthy and dirty, it took only a few moments for people to realize. Weird and hostile looks were shot in his direction as this is a very formal ceremony, which means that everyone dressed clean and appropriate, everyone except for Alex. It was not long until Alex started to feel really uncomfortable, so he summoned up his courage, stood up and left the library. He didn't plan to return until he remembered about his father; therefore he wasn't left with much of a choice but to return to the library. However, there was no way he'd go back the way he's dressed now, so he decided to revisit the inn and get cleaned up. He took a shower swiftly. When he was finished, he looked at himself in the mirror and realized that if he went back looking like himself, Drew will notice him in less than a minute. Just when Alex was mulling over of what to do next, a bottle of bleach sitting on the floor caught his eyes. This gave him an idea, but he had to consider it for a second. After a short while, he decided that it was the only option he had. He took the bleach, mixed it with water, and dipped his hair into it. After five minutes or so, he looked himself in the mirror again, his hair was completely white, but that didn't destroy a tad of his attractiveness, if anything, it gave him more character and made him look more masculine. He quickly ran back into the library and sat down. To his surprise, no one paid much attention to him, instead they were all discussing about someone's disappearance.

Moments after Alex sat down. Manji came downstairs and walked in front of Alex before he got a chance to catch his breath. And from the whispers beside him; he discovered that the man standing in front of him is no other than Manji himself!

Alex stared at Manji, two emotions built up inside of him, anger and fear. When Manji asked Alex the question, his fear crippled his ability to speak, making him unable to answer. But his desire to rescue his dad quickly gave him courage. Alex studied Manji carefully, and from the tone of his voice, Alex realized that he was quite scared when speaking of this Raliel person, so he decided to take a huge risk and replied, "Of course I know Raliel!"

Manji looked taken aback at Alex's response, but before he could ask another question, a fairy flew inside the library and danced around Manji. She frowned at him and teased, "Hey, the king of dorks that no one likes, come follow me upstairs."

Manji was infuriated; he had never been more humiliated in his life. He chased the fairy upstairs and drew out his katana.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Grendel shrilled.

Manji was suddenly aware of his actions and sheathed his sword. The fairy took advantage of this moment and made a face at him.

"What's going on here?" Grendel questioned.

"Hey, you over there," the fairy pointed to Selena and spoke, "Come with me if you wanna see your Caden-bro again."

Everyone inside the room was startled, "Don't joke around, fairy Arwen," Grendel said with a displeased tone, "he's already dead."

Selena suddenly recognized the fairy, she was inside the bar yesterday too. The girl suddenly looked full of hope and turned to her aunt with a pleading look. Athena smiled and nodded, "Go with her Selena, I believe miracles happen to good people."


End file.
